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SkyClan Returns (Remake)
Just a heads up, this is a remake of my previous story SkyClan Returns. This is set at the end of the new super edition Hawkwing's Journey when Hawkwing and Echosong talk in the last chapter about being close to their new home. This will be switching P.O.Vs every second chapter. Some of this may be real considering Vision of Shadows Book 3 and Book 4 blurbs and Hawkwing's Journey. ENJOY!! Prologue Alderheart tried to squint his eyes to see through the mist, leaning towards where soft moans were coming from. Finally, in a tiny clearing zone in the mist, stood two cats, one pale grey tabby tom and another, shimmering cream and brown tabby she-cat. Alderheart opened his mouth to call out to them, then closed it. If this was anything like his other dreams, these cats wouldn't hear him. Looking over the pale grey tom's shoulder as he padded up beside them, Alderheart saw a beautiful silver-grey she-cat laying at their paws, who was rasping for air. The name of the silver-grey she-cat was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't quite remember it. "There is nothing you can do," the silver-grey cat rasped, laying her head in the cold grass. The pale tabby reached his head down and nuzzled the cat's shoulder. "We will miss you," the tabby croaked, pulling his head back and nuzzling the cream and brown tabby she-cat. The silver-grey cat let a tear fall to the ground, and Alderheart was choked with amotion. "Tell Leafstar I'm so sorry," she murmured, closing her eyes and letting her flank still. "Echosong!" The tabby wailed, the cream and brown tabby she-cat joining in. "Echosong!" Echosong! ''The name was so familiar that Alderheart smacked his own head with a hard hit with his paw. The dream faded and Alderheart was jerked awake in his nest by an annoyed looking Sparkpelt. Alderheart sniffed and got to his paws, examining his heavily expecting sister's belly. Sparkpelt looked nervous. "Rowanstar threatened Bramblestar," she hissed darkly, lashing her tail. Alderheart stiffened. "What did he say?" Sparkpelt hesitated before replying, "He threatened to take a large portion of our prey from our territory, without our permission." Alderheart growled. "Tell Bramblestar to send the ShadowClan cats to look after the elders, taking one turn each," he snapped, leaping over to his herb stores. Sparkpelt hissed excitedly. "Already done." Alderheart breathed out in relief. "Good. Can you send Berrynose in here quickly please?" Sparkpelt nodded and slipped out of the den, not questioning her brother's commanding tone. Alderheart looked sternly at Berrynose as the cream tom scrambled into the den, his pelt spiked with dry blood from a recent border clash with RiverClan. "What did I tell you about going out on patrols?" Alderheart snapped rudely, grasping a pawful of herbs and passing them over to Berrynose. Berrynose shifted his paws uncomfortably. "Not to go on them," he muttered. "What even are these herbs?" Alderheart grumbled an insult before replying, "There is thyme and poppy seed in that mixture." Berrynose grimaced as he chewed on the herbs. Alderheart collected two more herbs for him to put on Berrynose's flank wound, Lavender and Goldenrod. After a few minutes of placing herbs and smearing them into Berrynose's wounds, the creamy tom was free to leave, muttering as he stalked out. Alderheart sighed and sank into nest. The dream had been about SkyClan, he knew it. Was StarClan telling him something about the apparently scattered Clan. Nerves shook him, and he thought of something. Could SkyClan be close? Chapter 1 Hawkwing hissed and leaped aside, out of the way of Dewpaw's heavy pawed swing. "Go Dewpaw!" Reedpaw squealed from her sitting spot next to her other brother, Finpaw. With a growl Dewpaw flung himself at Hawkwing, but Hawkwing was ready. Leaping to the left, dodging Dewpaw's first attack, Hawkwing was not expecting the apprentice to whirl around and throw a hard hit blow on his shoulder. Surprised and off balance, Hawkwing stumbled. Dewpaw sprung at him, paws extended, taking the advantage. This time, Hawkwing read what the apprentice was going to do. Feinting to the left, Hawkwing saw the apprentice collecting his paws, ready to swipe, before Hakwing darted to the right, startling the apprentice and sending him hurtling into the ground. Helping the young tom to his paws, Hawkwing meowed, "Good job. Just cleanse your movements in speed and smoothening the moves out." Dewpaw nodded and rasped, "You were amazing, I haven't seen you fight before." Hawkwing puffed out his chest. "I think that covers your training Dewpaw. Why don't you go find Macgyver and ask him to test you on hunting?" Dewpaw nodded excitedly, his eyes sparkling as he took off, darting to where Macgyver was waiting. Finpaw pipped up, "Can you test me now? Please?" Hawkwing snorted. "Come on. Your sister won't be grateful if you take until sundown." With a excited squeak, Finpaw leaped forward, using his powerful hind legs to boost him forward further than normal. Hawkwing skidded to the left and smacked a blow at Finpaw's flank. The tom shrieked and rolled away, leaping to his paws and swinging them at Hawkwing's face. Hawkwing ducked a blow and tumbled away, before darting forward and sliding under Finpaw's belly, raking his sheathed claws down the apprentice's belly. Finpaw screeched and fell to the ground, soon getting to his paws and tossing himself at Hawkwing, finally managing to land a heavy paw blow on Hawkwing's shoulder, sending the deputy to the ground. "Well," Hawkwing rasped. "You got there. Things you need to improve on are simply just making your moves more smooth. And maybe try to read your apponent's moves." Finpaw nodded shakily. "Can I go find Blossomheart so she can test my hunting?" He asked softly. "Sure, go ahead. She should be near to south-side of our temporary camp." With a sigh of relief, Finpaw dashed out of the small clearing in the direction Hawkwing had recommended. "Okay Reedpaw. Try me." The small she-cat stepped forward hesitantly, but Hawkwing caught a glimpse of determination in her eyes. With a shriek, Reedpaw flung herself at Hawkwing, but Hawkwing was ready. Side stepping to the right, Hawkwing saw Reedpaw following his moves, before he dashed to the left, sending Reedpaw to the ground. With a snarl of defiance Reedpaw heaved herself to her paws and lunged at Hawkwing again, this time going left. Hawkwing stepped to the right and was surprised when Reedpaw slipped under his belly, raking her sheathed claws along it before slithering out from under him and getting to her paws, a smirk on her face. Hawkwing swung around and lashed out his forepaw at the she-cat's face. Reedpaw almost dodged the blow, almost. Hawkwing regathered his paws and wrapped his forepaws around her forelegs. Pulling, Hawkwing unwrapped his legs just in time for Reedpaw to crash to the ground. "Good spar! Just remember to not just rely on speed but to also rely on strength." Reedpaw nodded and dashed off, looking for her mentor, Bellaleaf. With a sigh, Hawkwing started off towards camp. -------------------------------------------------- "Hawkwing! Come over here!" With a grunt Hawkwing heaved himself to his paws and padded over to SkyClan's leader, Leafstar. The cream and brown tabby's amber eyes were glowing with anticipation. "Yes?" He asked. "Have you sent out a hunting patrol yet?" Hawkwing shifted his paws. "No. But me and the apprentice's mentors organised a hunting assessment for the apprentices. They've been tasked with catching four pieces of prey each." Instead of looking reserved now, Leafstar seemed happier. "Would you go scour the area near the twoleg campsite? Near the clump of comfrey Echosong used to collect from." Hawkwing cocked his head. "Do I need to take anyone with me?" Leafstar smiled. "I think you can handle yourself." Hawkwing straightened. "I'll assign Sagenose to monitor camp as temporary deputy while I'm gone." Leafstar dipped her head. "Smart idea. Now get going!" Hawkwing slipped over to Sagenose and told him his plan. "I wouldn't call it a camp," Sagenose muttered loud enough for Hawkwing to hear as he padded away. "More like a clearing." Hawkwing ignored the tom's rude reply before exiting the camp - clearing -. After padding along for about half an hour, Hawkwing found himself at the brim of a twoleg campsite. Hawkwing shivered as he heard twoleg kits yowling to one another, tossing some sort of moss-ball to each other. Flattening his ears to his head, Hawkwing started off towards the clump of comfrey that Leafstar had mentioned, and soon found himself at a gorse bush instead. Under it, was a hollowed out area, and out came a kit, looking not much older than a moon old. "Who are you?" The she-kit squeaked, her eyes narrowing to slits. "Who are you?" Hawkwing rumbled back. ''I don't have time for a kit's games. ''"Oh I'm Yewk-, oh um, Lark. I'm Lark. If you need to know I have two brothers named Claw and Black, and we have a sister named Yellow." Hawkwing snorted. "Who's your mother?" Lark hesitated before replying, "Ink. Her name is Ink." "Can you take me to meet her? I need to explain something about this gorse bush and the comfrey clump behind it." Lark hissed and turned around, stalking back down under the gorse bush into the hollowed out area. "Mama! Some stranger is here!" ''I'm not some stranger I'm SkyClan's deputy! ''But of course, if these cats were rogues or kittypets, they wouldn't know what SkyClan was. "Oh, okay Lark. I'll be there in a sec. Is it Leafstar?" Lark slipped out again followed by a beautiful dappled she-cat. No, no, it couldn't be... "Pebbleshine?" Hawkwing croaked. The dappled she-cat widened her eyes in disbelief. "Hawkwing?" She seemed surprised and love filled her gaze as she trotted over and nuzzled him. "Lark, go get your littermates." Lark retreated into the den and came back out with three other kits. Pebbleshine looked proudly down at them, her eyes glowing. "The red, white and black she-cat who played as Lark is Yewkit, the pale grey tabby tom is Oakkit, the dappled she-cat is Spottedkit and the dark brown tabby tom is Sharpkit. Named after your father, Sharpclaw." "Their 'our 'kits, do you like them?" Pebbleshine twitched her tail nervously. Hawkwing chuckled. "Like ''them? No! I love them! And I love you," he murmured, pressing against his once lost now found mate. "Do you want to come back to the Clan?" "The Clan?" Yewkit pipped up. "You mean SkyClan? Of course I want to go!" Spottedkit nudged her sister gently. "We were raised here," she whispered. "This is our home." Yewkit bristled. "No its not! SkyClan is our true ''home!" Pebbleshine silenced their kits with a glare. "Of course we would like to go home," she meowed lovingly, picking up Spottedkit by the scruff and letting Oakkit crawl onto her back. Hawkwing copied by picking up Sharpkit and let Yewkit scramble up his back. ----------------------------- "Great! Hawkwing's back. How was-" Sagenose went silent when Hawkwing slipped into the clearing with the kits and Pebbleshine on his heels. "Leafstar?" Sagenose called warily, backing away slowly to let the family through. Leafstar lifted her head, a sparkle in her eyes. "Pebbleshine, nice to see you again." Pebbleshine dipped her head, then looked around. "Where's Sparrowpelt, Tinycloud and Parsleypaw?" Leafstar twitched her whiskers. "Pebbleshine!" Hawkwing turned around to see Tinycloud and Sparrowpelt bounding over to meet their daughter. "So good to see you," Sparrowpelt purred, nuzzling Pebbleshine lovingly. "It's good to see you too. Where is my brother?" Tinycloud's eyes misted. "He is a kittypet now." Pebbleshine's jaw dropped in shock. "I didn't see him at the campsite but I did see Curlypaw. She says sees called Kink now. I also met Fidgetpaw and Birdwing. They're rogues around the campsite now." "Birdwing told me Waspwhisker is a kittypet now called Hornet. But I didn't find Parsleypaw. Anywhere!" Sagenose pushed in front of Sparrowpelt and Tinycloud, a look of desperation in his eyes. "Can you bring them back?" He begged. Pebbleshine shook her head. "I only know where Fidgetpaw lives now. But I could scout aeound the place. Birdwing hunts even more than she used to." Sagenose looked disappointed. "Can you at least ''try?" Pebbleshine nodded and nuzzled her kits. Hawkwing felt Sharpkit tugging on his paw and he looked down. Sharpkit squealed and dashed away, straight into Oakkit's paws. The two kits began fighting, swiping each other with their paws. "Oh, more good news. I saw Ebonyclaw and Harveymoon at the campsite. Harveymoon told me their twolegs brought them down just for Greenleaf. They have kits! One she-kit named Blue and a tom named Thistle." Fallowfern limped forward, leaning on Sandynose for support. "It's good to see you," she rasped. Pebbleshine puffed out her chest. "I'm glad Hawkwing found us. Not just because he's my mate, but because where we lived it stinks!" The whole Clan burst out laughing, their eyes glowing in the dimming light. "How did the apprentice's hunting tasks go?" Hawkwing asked Mcgyver. The white tom nodded. "All of them completed the tasks. Dewpaw caught six pieces of prey." Leafstar raised her head to the darkening sky and yowled, "We now know our friends who left us are near and safe! SkyClan lives on through them! We will live forever!" Hawkwing joined in with the cries of his Clan, "SkyClan lives! SkyClan lives! SkyClan lives!" ----------------------------------------------- Hawkwing was prodded awake by tiny paws. Opening his eyes, Hawkwing crawled out into the clearing. Dewpaw, Reedpaw and Finpaw sat there, silent as a rock. "What are they doing?" Pipped a small voice. Hawkwing looked down and met the eyes of his daughter, Yewkit. Reedpaw pricked her ears in their direction and Hawkwing replied softly, "they're guarding the Clan." Yewkit nodded solemnly. "I understand." Hawkwing shooed his little kit over to where Pebbleshine was sleeping with the other kits. "Now get some rest." Hawkwing padded over to where he had been sleeping before and settled down, drifting off to sleep. Chapter 2 Needletail sat in the old ShadowClan camp, dark thoughts clouding her mind. Darktail had been planning something for '''days '''now. Needletail kicked at a pebble at her paws, muttering reasons to herself why Darktail was like her was. Rude, demanding and secretive. Her main reason was that he was an idiot. "Needletail! I thought I told you to go hunting!" Rain called across the clearing. Needletail called back, "I did!" Rain seemed unsatisfied and called, "I'm ordering you to go hunt, again!" Needletail groaned and got to her paws. Rain loved her, but that didn't stop him being a stinky fox-heart to her, and everyone else. "Can I at least take Violetpaw with me?" She asked when she stopped in front of Rain. The silver tom sniggered. "No. I should trust you're our best hunter and Violetpaw is our worst." Needletail's hackles rose. She truly hated Rain. "She's my apprentice." ''And my daughter. ''"If she's bad then I'm a bad teacher." Rain hissed and flattened his ears. "You're a great teacher, she's just a slow learner." "Shut up." With that, Needletail whipped around - being careful to whack Rain in the face with her tail - and stalked to the exit to camp, slipping out into the pine forests. She heard Violetpaw training in the hollow, as her shrieks sounded up. The musty scent of the pines drifted to her muzzle and Needletail breathed out. In among the musty scent there's were strong scents of prey. ''Mouse, thrush, frog, lizard and vole. ''Movement flickered in the corner of her eye. The, scuttling around was a fat mouse. Slipping around to be downwind, Needletail crouched down and stalked forward. When she was in pouncing range, she leaped forward and landed on the mouse, nipping it's neck and ending it's life. Burying it to collect later, Needletail spotted a thrush and stalked up to it, killing it with a bite. It was sunhigh by the time Needletail returned to camp, carrying a mouse, a thrush, and a vole. After dropping the prey onto the pile, Violetpaw raced up to her, the little apprentice's eyes shining. "Sleekwhisker said I was good enough to get Darktail himself to train me in battle!" Needletail felt pride rise up in her, then pushed it away. "Darktail is not a good cat," she warned Violetpaw. Her apprentice snorted and retorted, "I believe he's a good cat because he's fair on the younger cats. Rowanstar wasn't!" Needletail leaned down and hissed into the little cat's ear, "Darktail is a terrible cat. He killed ten warriors, some from each Clan, and lied about it." Violetpaw widened her eyes, then narrowed them. "How would you know?" She challenged. "Because he killed my father." Horror passed through Violetpaw's gaze before she sighed. "We have to give him another chance. He's our leader, after all." Needletail growled, "he's used up all his chances with me." Violetpaw growled. "Dawnpelt wants you by the way. I think it's something to do with Darktail's plan." The black and white apprentice whipped around and stalked off, slinking into the apprentice den, now named the Learners Den. Out of the corner of her eye, Needletail saw Dawnpelt sat in the shadows of the lonely beech tree in camp, her head down. With a huff Needletail trotted over to her friend, who looked up with flashing eyes. "Sit." Needletail sat down next to the cream she-cat, thoughts whirling in her mind. ''Maybe she knows what Darktail is up to! Or, if not..... Maybe it's about Violetpaw's training? ''She opened her mouth to ask a question, but Dawnpelt hushed her with a flick of her tail as she stared out over the clearing. "Violetpaw's training is going well I hear." Needletail puffed out her chest in pride. She'd been pruning her apprentice to be the best warrior the Clans had ever known, even putting off her warrior ceremony without anyone except Rowanstar knowing. Darktail would make her one of his senior "kin" soon though, even if Needletail told him not to. Dawnpelt's voice was hoarse when she murmured, "Violetpaw will have to be the best warrior she can be. I know what Darktail wants to do next." "What?" When Dawnpelt didn't reply, Needletail bit back a rude retort. Dawnpelt started. "He wants to take out the rest of the Clans, and he wants to destroy ThunderClan first." Needletail whimpered as the image of ThunderClan medicine cat, Alderheart flashed in her mind. She loved him still, and was scared for him. Dawnpelt hissed in her ear, "Warn ThunderClan. Without one Clan, the others will fall." Needletail hissed back, "I've heard from Darktail he's defeated SkyClan." Dawnpelt retorted, "He hasn't, not yet anyway. They are near." "Thunder, River, Shadow, Wind, and Sky will unite and rise to rid the darkness. Their leaders will meet and cast starlight down on the Clans. If one Clan falls, the others will. If the Clans survive as one, the darkness will shrink away into nothing." Needletail felt her jaw drop. "I didn't know warriors could receive prophecies!" Dawnpelt snorted. "Destiny comes in many ways we don't expect." Closing her eyes and getting to her paws, Needletail left the older she-cat to her thoughts by padding down to join her friends, Juniperclaw and Sleekwhisker. Stalking over Needletail fixed her gaze on Sleekwhisker, who was washing her paws. "Did you say Violetpaw could train with Darktail?" Needletail demanded, standing up in front of the two cats. Sleekwhisker lifted her head and narrowed her eyes. "Yes? What's the problem?" Needletail hissed in annoyance. "The problem is that I don't trust Darktail with my apprentice! Darktail is a good leader most of the time, but I don't know him well enough to fully trust him with my apprentice." She was the only cat in the Clan that knew what happened to the ten 'missing' warriors that were killed my Darktail. Sleekwhisker curled her lips in a snarl. "You are my friend Needletail. I don't want to be the one to tell Darktail to end your life."